Descendance follows Austrian freeskier Dennis Ranalter from his home in the Tyrolean Alps to Accra, Ghana. Through questions of identity, everyday racism, family and belonging, the film looks beyond Dennis’s public image as an athlete and into the personal history behind it.
My role was to develop the film’s art direction and animated visual language.
The challenge was to give form to parts of Dennis’s experience that documentary footage alone could not fully express: memory, inherited identity and the tension between how someone understands themselves and how they are perceived by others.
The animation was not intended as an explanatory or decorative layer. It had to connect the different places, periods and emotional perspectives of the story while respecting its intimacy. I developed the visual approach and created the animated sequences as part of the film’s narrative rhythm—bridging documentary observation, personal history and ski action without overpowering Dennis’s voice.
Produced by Legs of Steel for The North Face, Descendance went on to receive international recognition, including iF3 Film of the Year and a Special Jury Mention at the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Produced by: Legs of Steel
Directed by: Michael Haunschmidt
Co-Directed by: Mathias Kögel
Executive Producer & Content Developer: Phil Young
Principal Cinematography & Editing by: Michael Haunschmidt & Mathias Kögel Music & Sound Design: Matthias Müller
Color Grading: Manuel Portschy
Art Direction & Animations: Atelier FFF / Fabian F. Fuchs
Awards:
Sports Emmys 2024 – Outstanding Camera Work Long Form
Banff Mountain Film Festival – Special Jury Mention
Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival – Best Mountain Culture Film
Teton Climbers Coalition ALPINFILM 2024 – Jury’s choice
iF3 Montreal – Film of the Year
iF3 Montreal – Best Cinematography
iF3 Montreal – Best Storytelling
High Five Festival – Jury Special Prize
Dolomiti Film Festival – Best Documentary on Mountain Inclusiveness
Yeti Film Festival – Best Feature Documentary
Yeti Film Festival – Best Documentary Filmmaking
European Short Awards 2024 – Winner in European Short Documentary
